The Best Fitness and Wellness Tips for Every Bride

Ready to have all eyes on you? We consulted a few of our favorite fitness pros for expert advice on how to tone up, get strong and feel good for your walk down the aisle.

by Rachel Torgerson

photo by Veer

Real talk: You will look amazing on your wedding day, no matter what. Although you may have immediately started thinking of diets and detoxes the minute you started looking at wedding dresses, it’s more important to stay healthy (and sane) if you want to achieve a few fitness goals before the wedding day—and we’re here to help. Set a smart workout and wellness plan by following these tips.

1. Get a Jump-Start

The earlier you decide on your workout plan and put it into effect, the better. Then, you can actually focus on all the good you’re doing for your body instead of trying to reach a goal that may not be attainable and getting stressed out. Bridal fitness expert Doug Rice recommends leaving yourself a little wiggle room on either side. "We can all lose focus at times and might have a few bad days—or weeks!"

2. Be Realistic

Setting a big fitness goal can help keep you motivated, but be careful. If you aim too high, you'll only be setting yourself up for failure and frustration. "Not every bride must be a size two on her wedding day," says Cynthia Conde, celeb trainer and author of Bridal Bootcamp. You need to realistically evaluate what your ideal weight and body shape should be and if you're capable of getting there in a healthy way. Once you have an attainable goal in mind, be prepared to do the amount of work in the time it’ll take to reach it.

3. Know What It Takes

Rice recommends a minimum of three to four 30-minute sessions of cardio per week and the same amount of strength training, though that amount will need to be adjusted depending on your goals. If you have more than 15 pounds to lose, Rice says, you'll need to kick your cardio up to five or six times per week. Relax—cardio can be anything from going for a run to jogging, brisk walks and cycling, which is much easier on joints and makes you less prone to injuries. Find something you enjoy so you'll be more likely to keep it up. And remember: If you continue to do what you've always done, you'll continue to get the results you've always gotten, Rice says. Want to make more progress? Then prepare to push yourself a bit harder.

4. Adjust Your Eating Habits

The best way to get the most out of any exercise routine is to pair it with healthy eating habits. "You can lose weight through diet alone, but it is exceedingly difficult to lose body fat by leaving your diet the same and trying to exercise it off," Rice says. The simplest way to get started? Eat more vegetables. "I've had clients who decided to eat more vegetables and within a week, their body fat dropped 2 percent and their abs started to show," says Greg Doyle, author of Fit for a Bride and founder of Wedding Gym. You'll also want to focus on superfoods, like broccoli, eggs and walnuts, which fill you up quicker, keep you feeling full longer and help you lose weight faster.

5. Lose Fat, Not Muscle

The big takeaway here is your body has a cap of how much fat you can blast at any given time. "You could lose more weight, but it might not be from fat," Doyle explains. "The weight you lose may be from muscle, which isn't good because losing muscle means messing with your metabolism." To stay in the healthy zone follow this guide: If you're trying to drop 30 pounds, you should be aiming to lose 2 percent of your body weight per week. If your weight loss goal is 20 pounds, aim for losing one percent per week.

6. Set Small Goals

Nothing makes you feel more motivated to keep going than actually hitting your goals. The key, Rice says, is to keep them small and specific. He gave a few examples:

Week One: Do 20-minutes of cardio and strength train two times during the week.

Write your goals down in a journal and make a note as you reach each one, so you have a record of your successes—then you'll find it's not so tough to continue to build on your achievements.

7. Create a Visual Diary

Doyle recommends snapping selfies regularly as a means of tracking fitness progress. "A lot of times, when you're training, you're losing fat but adding muscle," Doyle says. Muscle takes up half the space of fat, but it's dense, which means the scale may indicate that you haven't lost much weight. Don't get too caught up in what the scale says—instead, a picture will let you see how much better you're looking in your clothes or that definition that's starting to show in your stomach. "You're not walking down the aisle with a number on your forehead," he emphasizes. “Your guests aren't going to see how much you weigh; they'll see how great you look."

8. Feel the Burn

Conde recommends increasing the intensity of your cardio and strength-training programs every week. "Brides shouldn't be afraid of increasing the weight load,” she says. “This is required to challenge your body and take it past a plateau. And no, increased strength training does not necessarily equal a masculine physique." If you're not sure how much weight will work, consider investing in a few personal training sessions at your local gym so a professional can set you up with a regimen that will tone your body without bulking it up.

9. Change Perspectives

Instead of looking at your fitness goals as chores, you should try to see your gym sessions as time you have control over, Conde says. After all, she points out, "with all the chaos around planning a wedding, it’s comforting to know you have control over how your body will look in your wedding gown and on the honeymoon." Plus, it's a place you can escape from the day-to-day drama of wedding planning—so turn off your cell, forget about your growing list of to-dos and focus on pedaling that bike. If this mind-set doesn't work for you, try to have as much fun as you can with your workouts and get through them as quickly as possible. "Work out with a friend, listen to your favorite music and set a timer on your phone for 30 minutes," Doyle suggests. "As soon as the timer goes off, get out of there."

10. Be Positive

Will you ever have better fitness motivation than your wedding day? "Take advantage of this rare window of opportunity to be super driven," Rice says. "There may never be another time like this in your life. It's not about discipline, it's about desire." Seriously, when will your desire to get fit ever be as great as it will in the months leading up to your walk down the aisle? Put that drive to good use in the gym.

11. Aim for Balance

Of course you'll want to focus on the parts of your body that will be on display in your gown, but don't neglect other areas. The most successful fitness plans balance nutrition and exercise and they work out your entire body. "Many brides just want to focus on their upper body because of their gowns, but you want to work on your entire body to create symmetry and balance," Conde says.